NMU professor runs Pictured Rocks & Isle Royale on same day

NMU exercise science professor Scott Drum has run the entire lengths of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Isle Royale National Park on the same day. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

MARQUETTE — A Northern Michigan University professor may have just become the first person to ever run the entire lengths of Pictured Rocks and Isle Royale on the same day.

Scott Drum teaches in NMU’s School of Health and Human Performance. He says he knows of people that have run all of Pictured Rocks and all of Isle Royale on different days, but he doesn’t know of anyone else who’s run both on the same day. It’s a total distance of 83.5 miles.

“This is a personally–inspired challenge to figure out my own physical limits, and in general to showcase physical activity and what you can do in a day,” he said. “It seemed kind of a fun challenge for me, but in general, it might even inspire others to get out for ten minutes or five minutes if they hear about this.”

He started just before 2:30 Sunday morning in Grand Marais and ran to Munising Falls. After needing slightly less than five hours to travel to Isle Royale, Drum ran the entire length of the Greenstone Ridge Trail on the island. He finished shortly after 2:30 this morning.

“Big concerns are trying to maintain a real even energy level,” Drum said. “That means hydrating, eating on a regular basis and not trying to overextend myself too much, and then, hopefully, everything comes together as far as weather goes.”

Drum spent 19 hours and 22 minutes running. He did about 80 miles of trail running per week to prepare, and he says his previous record distance for a single day was 50 miles.

The NMU School of Health and Human Performance is hosting a reception in Scott Drum’s honor tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in room 140 of the Physical Education Instructional Facility. It’s free of charge and the public is welcome to attend.